11 LGBT Pioneers You Should Know

The battle for gay rights was being fought, slowly but surely, for decades before marriage equality became law in the United States in 2015. Generations of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activists paved the way for the progress we see today. From politicians to TV stars, here are 11 trailblazers worth knowing.

1. EDITH WINDSOR

The overturning of section 3 of the Defense Against Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2013 changed the lives of thousands of couples, and it was spurred by one woman from New York. Edith Windsor married Thea Spyer, her partner of 40 years, in Canada in 2007. Though the marriage was recognized above the border and in New York (which started recognizing out-of-state gay marriages in 2008), U.S. law prohibited the women from reaping the same benefits as other married couples in the States. Windsor felt this first-hand when Spyer died in 2009, leaving her with $363,000 in estate taxes and without hope for exemption. Instead of accepting this, she sued the federal government, arguing that the section of DOMA defining marriage as a union between a man and woman was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court eventually agreed, and on June 26, 2013 Windsor and Spyer's marriage was recognized. Windsor remarried in September 2016—and this time the ceremony was in her home country.

2. ELLEN DEGENERES

Ellen DeGeneres made television history when she announced she was gay in 1997. Hours after appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show show, after having come out to TIME magazine earlier in the month, DeGeneres’s fictional sitcom counterpart of the same name followed suit in a two-part special episode of Ellen. The reveal was almost as significant for Ellen the character as it was for Ellen the real-life comedian: in the mid-'90s, LGBT characters—especially well-rounded, relatable ones—were practically non-existent in prime-time. The "Puppy Episode" opened the door for several more television programs starring openly gay characters. Today, Ellen continues to light up screens on her daytime talk show while remaining an active supporter of LGBT rights.

3. BAYARD RUSTIN

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Bayard Rustin was instrumental in one of the greatest civil rights demonstrations in history. In 1963, he worked with Martin Luther King Jr. to organize the March on Washington, then in the 1980s he redirected his focus to a different cause. "Gay people are the new barometer for social change," he said in a speech in 1986. He died the following year, but his extensive activism work included fighting for the passage of New York’s gay rights bill and urging the NAACP to acknowledge the AIDS epidemic.

4. BARBARA GITTINGS

The concept of "gay rights" was virtually nonexistent in buttoned-up 1950s America. But that didn’t stop Barbara Gittings from carving out a space for gay women like her where she saw the need for one. She founded the New York chapter of America's first lesbian organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, in 1958 when she was 26 years old, and in the 1960s she picketed to end discrimination against gay employees in the federal government. But perhaps the greatest legacy she left behind is the American Library Association’s bibliography of literature about gays and lesbians, one of the first collections of its kind.

5. AARON FRICKE

In spring of 1980, Aaron Fricke looked forward to attending prom with the rest of his classmates at Cumberland High in Rhode Island. But unlike his peers, Fricke hoped to go with a date of the same gender. Once the principal caught wind of the plan he made his stance clear: No same-sex couples would be allowed into the event. Fricke challenged his school in court and won the right to attend prom with his male date—the judge even required his school to provide enough security to keep them safe from harassment. Fricke v. Lynch is now considered a landmark case in the fight for LGBT student rights.

6. MARTINA NAVRATILOVA

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In 1981, Czech-American tennis star Martina Navratilova was at the top of her game—she had won Wimbledon twice already and was about to start a record-breaking string of nine Wimbledon final appearances. Then she put her career and celebrity status in jeopardy by coming out, first as bisexual and then as a lesbian. Navratilova estimates that she lost millions in endorsement deals following her revelation. Despite the financial setback, she continued to dominate the tennis court while using her star power to advocate for gay rights. In 1992, she joined other activists in a lawsuit challenging a Colorado amendment that banned extending civil rights protections to gay people.

7. HARVEY MILK

Nearly 40 years after his assassination, Harvey Milk remains one of the most well-known figures of the gay rights movement. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s when he became California’s first openly gay person elected to public office. As a community leader in San Francisco, Milk supported the rights of gay teachers, sponsored anti-discrimination legislation, and fostered LGBT-run businesses. In 2009, his nephew Stuart Milk founded the Harvey Milk Foundation to continue his fight for equality.

8. MARSHA JOHNSON

The Stonewall Riot of 1969, in which a late-night raid of a prominent New York City gay bar devolved into a violent struggle between patrons and police, is largely seen as the driving event behind the gay rights movement. Today Stonewall is recognized as a national monument, but the names of many of the men and women who led the unrest are still missing from history books. Marsha P. Johnson, a trans woman from New Jersey, was on the front lines that night according to eyewitness accounts. After she helped spark a national resistance, Johnson continued to support LGBT communities during the AIDS crisis. According to Mic, she joined the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power in the 1980s, which, among other things, fought to lower the price of HIV/AIDS medication.

9. LEONARD MATLOVICH

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Leonard Matlovich wasn’t the first gay man to serve in the military, but he may have been the first to come out on such a public platform. For most of his life, including his years spent in Vietnam, Matlovich kept his true sexuality a secret from the world. Then in 1975, he decided to come out to his superiors. An interview with The New York Times soon followed, and then a famous appearance on the cover of TIME magazine that displayed his portrait above the words "I Am a Homosexual." The story attracted plenty of backlash, but it also initiated a conversation many people were hesitant to have at the time. Matlovich’s admission eventually led to his discharge from the Air Force, where he had continued to serve as a race relations counselor after returning to the States. He died of complications from AIDS at age 44, and his gravestone in Washington D.C.’s Congressional cemetery reads: "When I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

10. RICHARD ISAY

Even after the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as an illness in 1973, the stigma persisted in the medical community. Gay patients were often approached as sick individuals who needed to be cured. According to his obituary in The New York Times, Dr. Richard Isay was one of the first prominent psychiatrists/psychoanalysts to encourage his gay patients to accept themselves rather than deny their feelings. Isay, a gay man himself, was already an established mental health professional when he came out of the closet. He was ostracized by his colleagues, but he continued to present his then-radical notions about homosexuality at meetings and in his writings nonetheless. Attitudes shifted in 1992, when Isay teamed up with the American Civil Liberties Union to threaten the American Psychoanalytic Association with a discrimination lawsuit. The APA agreed to start treating analysts the same regardless of their sexuality and to promote education on the subject within the network.

11. LAVERNE COX

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Laverne Cox has already made history several times throughout her career. In 2014, her role on Orange is the New Black earned her the first Emmy nomination for an openly trans actor, and in 2017 she became the first transgender regular to play a trans character on broadcast TV with CBS’s Doubt. When she isn’t blazing trails as an actor, she’s working off-screen to bolster LGBT rights as a film producer and motivational speaker.

A photo from the 1919 wedding of Princess Patricia of Connaught to the Hon. Alexander Ramsay.

Need some St. Patrick's Day conversation fodder that doesn't involve leprechauns or four-leaf clovers? Ask your friends to name a "Pat" born on St. Patrick's Day. If they can't, they owe you a drink—then you can wow them with this list of 10.

1. PRINCESS PATRICIA OF CONNAUGHT

Princess Patricia was the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, who gave up all of her royal titles when she married a commoner. She was born at Buckingham Palace on March 17, 1886.

2. PATRICK DUFFY

The Dallas star was born on March 17, 1949. And here's a totally random fact about Duffy: His nephew is Barry Zito, former MLB pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.

3. PATTIE BOYD

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Pattie Boyd is well-known to lovers of classic rock: She has been married three times, including once to George Harrison and once to Eric Clapton, who both wrote a couple of the most romantic songs in rock history in her honor (including The Beatles's "Something" and Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight"). Boyd was a model when she met Harrison on the set of A Hard Day's Night in 1964; the pair were married two years later. They divorced in 1977 and she married Clapton, Harrison's close friend, in 1979. She also had an affair with Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones toward the end of her marriage to The Quiet Beatle.

4. PAT RICE

Belfast-born Pat Rice is a former footballer and coach who spent the bulk of his career with Arsenal F.C. (that's "football club," a.k.a. soccer to us Americans). He joined the Gunners in 1964 as a mere apprentice, turning pro a couple of years later. He became captain in 1977 and left the club for a few years in the early 1980s to go to Watford, but returned after he retired from playing in 1984. In 2012, after nearly 30 years with the organization, he announced his retirement.

5. PATTY MALONEY

Patty Maloney is an actress with dwarfism who stands just three feet, 11 inches tall. She has appeared in many movies and T.V. shows over the years, including operating the Crypt Keeper puppet in Tales from the Crypt. She also played Chewbacca's son Lumpy in The Star Wars Holiday Special.

6. MATHEW ST. PATRICK

HBO

Ok, so Mathew St. Patrick is the stage name of the actor, but he was born Patrick Matthews in Philadelphia on March 17, 1968. You probably know him best as David's boyfriend Keith on Six Feet Under.

7. PATRICK ADAMS

He may not be a household name, but the recording artists Patrick Adams writes for and helps produce certainly are. Adams has been involved in the careers of Salt-N-Pepa, Sister Sledge, Gladys Knight, Rick James, and Coolio, among others.

8. PATRICK MCDONNELL

It's possible you look at Patrick McDonnell's work every day, depending on which comics your newspaper carries. McDonnell draws a strip called Mutts featuring a dog and a cat named Earl and Mooch, respectively. Charles Schulz called it one of the best comic strips of all time.

9. BILLY PATRICK CORGAN

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Yes, you know him better as just plain old Billy Corgan: he's the face of the Smashing Pumpkins, engages in public feuds with Courtney Love, and maybe once dated Jessica Simpson. He made his debut on March 17, 1967.

10. PATRICIA FORD

Patricia Ford is a retired model probably best known for her Playboy photoshoots in the 1990s.

Under the guidance of Arthur Guinness and his heirs, Guinness has been brewing pints of its famous stout in Dublin since the mid 18th century. Pour yourself a glass of the black stuff (which actually isn't black at all) and read on for more facts about the legendary brewery.

1. THE COMPANY INITIALLY LEASED THE BREWERY FOR 9000 YEARS.

Guinness started his business in 1759 by renting an unused, four-acre brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin for the next 9000 years. He paid an initial £100 and locked in annual rent at £45. However, the original lease was voided when the company bought the property and the brewing operations expanded to 50 acres.

2. THE LEASE INCLUDED FREE ACCESS TO A WATER SUPPLY.

And the owner was very protective of that privilege. In fact, the one time local authorities tried to make Arthur Guinness pay for his water, he is said to have grabbed a pick-axe from one of the sheriff’s men and swore at them until they left.

3. THERE WAS ONCE AN ALE, AS WELL.

Guinness started his beer company by brewing two beers: a porter and an ale. However, the Dublin Ale was dropped from production in 1799 so brewers could focus on the increasingly popular stout.

5. THE BEER'S OFFICIAL COLOR IS RUBY RED.

6. GUINNESS IS BREWED IN 49 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD.

In addition to in its home country, Guinness also owns breweries in Malaysia, Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon. All of the ingredients are sourced locally, except for one: the Guinness extract, a secret mixture that is added to a Guinness brewed anywhere in the world.

7. IRELAND ISN'T THE BIGGEST CONSUMER.

The country ranks third on the list of places where residents tip back the most Guinness annually, after Britain and Nigeria. Every day, 10 million glasses of Guinness are consumed around the world.

8. THE BUBBLES IN THE BEER SINK BECAUSE OF THE SHAPE OF THE GLASS.

When a Guinness is poured, the beer flows downward along the side of the glass, dragging bubbles along with it which then move upward through the middle and form the creamy head. This circulatory pattern is created by the fact that pint glasses are wider at the top than at the bottom giving the bubbles more space to rise from the middle as opposed to from the side.

9. GUINNESS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COMPANIES TO OFFER EMPLOYEE BENEFITS.

Employees who punched the clock at the company in 1928, just one year before the Great Depression, were entitled to on-site medical and dental care—andtwo free pints after every shift. Guinness also consistently paid its employees 20 percent more than other brewers and gave them full pensions.

10. THE GUINNESS HARP WAS ONE OF THE FIRST TRADEMARKS IN THE U.K.

The harp, along with Arthur Guinness’s signature, made its first appearance on a Guinness beer label in 1862 and was officially registered in the trademark office in 1876. The harp is a nod to the beer’s Irish roots. The same instrument appears on Ireland’s coat of arms.

11. THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE TWO HARPS WERE NOTICED BY THE PATENT OFFICE.

The government ran into issues when trying to register the harp as a state symbol under international trademark law because the symbol and the Guinness label were so similar. Eventually, the state and the brewery were able to reach a compromise: the harp on a bottle of Guinness would always face right, while in official use, the harp would always be left-facing.

12. DURING WORLD WAR II, GUINNESS PROMISED TO GIVE EVERY BRITISH SOLDIER A PINT ON CHRISTMAS.

Guinness made thestatement before realizing that much of the company's work force was also serving abroad at the time. When the company discovered they needed more workers in order to brew enough beer, retirees showed up at the plant to help out. With the help from veterans and workers from other brewing companies, Guinness was able to stay true to its word.

13. IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE GOOD FOR YOU.

As a 1920s advertising campaign exclaimed, a pint of Guinness does contain some extra benefits. (Guinness ended the campaign after a run-in with the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland.) Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison concluded that the dark stuff contains a dosage of flavonoids large enough to help reduce the risk of heart attacks.

14. THE FIRST GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORD WAS PUBLISHED TO HELP SETTLE ARGUMENTS IN THE PUBS.

After a particularly unfruitful hunting trip, Hugh Beaver, the managing director of Guinness, mentioned that the bird he and friends had been hunting—the golden plover—must be the fastest bird in the world. When Beaver was unable to locate a reference book that could back his claim, he decided to create one. He stamped the Guinness name on the cover and handed the book out for free to pubs to help customers settle the debates and bets that happen so frequently after a pint.

15. IT HAS BEEN CONSUMED UNDERWATER.

As part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of Arthur Guinness signing the lease on the St. James’s Gate brewery, the company held a contest that promised the winners would get to drink a Guinness like never before. A submarine bar was commissioned in 2009 and three years later, the winners went under the Baltic Sea in Stockholm to enjoy their pints.

16. GUINNESS CREATED ITS OWN SUPERHERO IN AFRICA.

As part of an advertising campaign, Guinness created a full-length action movie called Critical Assignment that was shown in cinemas across Africa. The story follows the strong journalist Michael Power as he tries to stop a corrupt politician from buying weapons with stolen money. Power gets all his strength from drinking—you guessed it—Guinness.